


Pancakes

by CaptainAwesome242



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Baking, Cooking, Cooking Lessons, Dinner, Enterprise, Food, Friendship, Gen, Hidden Talents, Male Friendship, Pancakes, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness, Pre-Five Year Mission, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Roommates, Star Trek: Into Darkness Spoilers, Starfleet, Starfleet Academy, Starship Enterprise (Star Trek), Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 09:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7929058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAwesome242/pseuds/CaptainAwesome242
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the role food has played in Leonard and Jim's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pancakes

It was a little known fact that Leonard McCoy was a fantastic cook. In the age of replicators and instant food, cooking, while not a rarity, was not a common hobby and very few people could claim to be able to create a palatable meal. Leonard McCoy was one such exception having been raised down in Georgia by his mother, who’d passed her culinary prowess on to her only son.

Len loved cooking. Not only was it something that had brought him closer to his mother but he found it relaxing and stimulating all at once, aside from the fact that there was nothing better than a home cooked meal.

Jim Kirk had discovered this hidden talent back in the Academy, when he’d returned to their shared dorm and was greeted with a delicious aroma...

_“What’s that smell?” Jim asked eagerly, sniffing the air appreciatively._

_“Oh, it’s just my dinner. I couldn’t be bothered to eat it in the kitchens so I brought it up here” Len murmured before shovelling another mouthful in._

_He’d just worked a double shift at the campus hospital and felt he deserved some proper food instead of that replicated crap, so he’d stopped by the deserted kitchens to prepare himself a meal. One of the many facilities open to students was a large kitchen, which Len was blessed to discover and even more so when he realised that maybe ten other people out of the entire student body used it._

_“Wait, you made this?” Jim asked intrigued, coming closer to inspect._

_Len nodded as Jim leaned in to smell the contents of the bowl. He’d gone for spaghetti bolognaise; it was quick and simple, but he was tired and hungry._

_“I didn’t know you could cook,” Jim accused, looking wounded that this was new information to him._

_“Sure I can, and I’m pretty good I don’t mind saying,” Len said as he scooped a small portion onto his spoon and offered it to Jim, who took it and tasted it experimentally._

_“Oh my God, Bones, this is the best! Can you make me some next time?”_

It had then become a bit of a habit for Len to cook for the two of them when they were both available at the same time, which ended up being twice a week due to scheduling conflicts. Len had even attempted to teach Jim to cook, but one charred dinner too many left Len reluctant to even let Jim in the kitchen let alone near the stove. Jim didn’t mind too much, as long as he got a regular supply of Len’s cooking then he was fine.

It also became a tradition of theirs for Len to bring Jim a meal when he was in hospital, which was far too often for comfort. Len would patch Jim up, gripe and lecture about his idiocy for a good long while, then make up for it by wordlessly leaving him a covered plate of one of his favourites. Jim would become a much more amenable patient after he’d eaten, not that he played ball for long, but it was long enough to satisfy Len that he’d had a decent rest.

The incident with Khan left its mark on all of them, Len most of all. He’d been presented with his best friend in a body bag and had literally been required to perform a miracle to bring him back. He’d brushed it off with a joke when Jim had woken up:

_“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic, you were barely dead,”_

But the truth was that he’d been very badly shaken. He’d been near constantly by Jim’s bedside and had only left when absolutely necessary. He’d barely eaten and what he _had_ eaten had been ‘food’ Spock had brought from the replicator, which was too chewy and didn’t taste of anything. It was like eating Play-Doh.

Even after Jim had woken up Len didn’t eat properly, electing to remain with Jim until he was in a more stable condition. For Jim’s part, he was in no position to eat solids and was consisting on a mostly liquid diet while his body reawakened itself.

Which was why, a month later when Jim was finally released from hospital, the two men felt the urgent need to indulge in some home cooked goodness and as it was Jim who’d died, Len felt it was only fair that he pick what they ate.

“Pancakes,” Jim had declared from his place slumped over Len’s dining table, “Lots of pancakes,”

Len pulled out all the stops, making not only a whopping stack of pancakes but also a veritable buffet of toppings and accompaniments. It had felt good to finally be cooking again, to be back in the kitchen. Medical equipment traded for cooking utensils. The smell of antiseptic traded for the rich bouquet of scents: chocolate, pancakes, syrup. Ordinarily Len would go into one about the sheer amount of sugar in these foods but today he didn’t care, they both needed this.

However, as he placed the stack on the table he fixed Jim with a stern gaze.

“Now don’t go crazy with these, your stomach is still adjusting to—”

“I know, I know, now let me have the pancakes!” Jim interrupted, eyeing the plate hungrily.

Len rolled his eyes but put the plate down between them, Jim snatching pancakes before Len had even let go.

They chatted pleasantly as they ate. It was easy, in this cosy setting, to forget the horrors of the past two months, to just be Jim and Len again. It was peaceful. Cooking and eating together had been something they always used to do, and it was refreshing to get a sense of normalcy back. Even though Jim ate the last of the pancakes, Leonard couldn’t find it in himself to get worked up about it. At least he was here to eat them.


End file.
